Monday, July 28, 2014

Our Rating: 5 stars One look into the stranger's dark, mysterious eyes and Indigo Moran
knows she's made a mistake in taking his picture. But who does he think
he is? A prince? That night Indigo discovers that's exactly who he is:
Crown Prince Lorenzo Torelli of Melvante.

To Lorenzo, duty lies
with his country—he can't offer Indigo forever. The trouble is…once he's
kissed her, one unforgettable night will never be enough. And now
Indigo's little secret is about to turn his carefully ordered world
upside down!

I fell in love with this story from the very first chapter! I loved Indigo's personalityand the fact that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind! Lorenzo was everything a girl could want-sexy, mysterious, and royal! The two of them together was pure perfection! The story progressed well & there were little things here & there that made it perfect!This is the first book I've ever read by Kate Hardy but I can assure you it will not be the last!

For
Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life
as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to
leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most
powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be
Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's
niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart
family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time,
she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the
rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed
and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life
that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how
to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to
understand.I spotted this book while looking through recommendations on Goodreads & then found it at my library. I read Aimee Carter's Goddess Test books and I liked them so I was hoping I would like this book too. It started out a little slow for me & really wasn't what I was expecting but it picked up quickly & had lots of twists and turns that I really enjoyed. I loved Kitty throughout the entire book but I really had trouble making up my mind about some of the other characters. There were some that were easy to hate, but others I couldn't decide if Kitty should trust them or if they were just as bad as the obvious "bad guys."

In the end I'm glad that I picked this book up & I can't wait to read the next one when it comes out!

Pretty and popular
track star Marijke Monti is confident about almost everything – she’s
got great friends, a great family, and she’s on her way to the State
Track Championship. In fact, the only thing Marijke isn’t confident
about is her relationship with Tommy Lawson.

Lily Spencer has
spent her entire high school career preparing for the future – she’s
participated in every extracurricular activity and volunteer committee
she could. But, at home, she watches her mother go on date after date
with dud-dudes, still searching for “the one.” Lily realizes that she’s
about to graduate and still hasn’t even had a boyfriend.

While
they live on each other’s periphery at school, Lily and Marijke never
seemed to have much in common; but, after a coincidental meeting at the
movie theater, Lily gets an idea – why can’t life be like a movie? Why
can’t they set up their perfect romantic situations, just in time for
their senior prom, using movie techniques?

Once the girls come up
with the perfect plans, they commit themselves to being secret cohorts
and, just like in the movies, drama ensues.

Love, Love, LOVE this book! Super cute, Lily & Marijke were impossible not to love. The story was told by both girls, in alternating chapters. There are so many great things about this book that I think any girl will love! I kept going back and forth, trying to decide which girl I liked more & in the end I still am not sure if I can pick one! This book was exactly what I needed on a hot summer day!

Interview with Kelly Fiore

When did you first know you wanted to
be a writer?

KF: I think that depends on
what“writer”means. If you mean professionally, I don't think I
really even knew I could do that – that I could be a full time
writer – until about 2008 or so. It never occurred to me that I'd
find a niche where my writing fit into a place that people would want
to read it. But I've always been a “writer” in the sense that
I've always been writing. I wrote stories in elementary school and a
play in high school. I've written poetry since I could write at all
and I even have a Master's degree in it (which, as you can imagine,
doesn't have a whole lot of use.)

That's the
thing about writing – if you want to do it and you do it, you're a
writer. It's just what you do with that writing that defines you as
an author or a poet or an artist.

What inspired you to write Just Like
the Movies?

KF: I was a really dramatic
teenager. I'd watch movies like Reality Bites or Clueless and see how
the best friends would fall in love or next door neighbors would fall
in love and I WANTED THAT. I would look at my guy friends and wonder,
“Ooh, are they secretly in love with me?” (They were not, sadly.)But that girl I was believed
whole-heartedly in movie love, and I know I wasn't the only teen out
there who thought that the movies had something – that if we had
the same strategies and big romantic gestures to fall back on, that
we could get that same love story to happen in our worlds.

Were there specific songs or a playlist
you listened to when writing Just Like the Movies?

KF: No, interestingly, this is the
first book I don't have a playlist for because I watched movies most
of the time I was writing it. And I didn't use half of them in the
book – they didn't all have a rational fit and, honestly, they
didn't all make sense. But the movies I watched (and some are in the
book) are:

Something Borrowed

All the Step Up movies

Center Stage

A Walk to Remember

The Notebook

Clueless

Easy A

French Kiss

The Vow

Dirty Dancing

Mean Girls

Twilight (x4)

He's Just Not That Into You

Just Go With It

50 First Dates

Pretty In Pink

Footloose

10 Things I Hate About You

(There were more, but this is going
to take up a lot of space…)

What book (or books) can you read over
and over again?

KF: Dracula by Bram Stoker and The
Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster are my two favorite books ever –
I've read both of them dozens of times.

If you could become a character in any
book, who would it be and why?

KF: This is hard. I'm not sure I
would become a character in a book. 

What are you currently working on?

KF: Oh, I'm always working on
something. I've finished a New Adult manuscript that's with my agent.
I'm waiting for edits on The People vs. Cecelia Price, my first book
with HarperTeen. And there are always some ideas brewing in the
background.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Is there anything worse
than getting jilted at the altar? How about being a wedding planner
getting jilted at the altar for your own wedding...on a cruise already
out at sea? When Las Vegas resident Dakota Halifax loses her fiance, she
swears she's given up on love altogether. She pours her heart into her
weekly wedding advice column and fills her days planning events to
celebrate others' forever love. When her childhood best friend Brendan
moves to Las Vegas and they reconnect, she starts to wonder if maybe
love could find her again. But then her ex reappears, begging for
another chance. Can someone once-burned and twice-shy ever find her way
down the aisle again? This book was just what I needed to kick off my summer! I loved everything about it, from start to finish! Dakota was a great character and I instantly fell in love with Brendan! I definitely found myself hoping for Dakota to end up with him instead of her stupid fiance! I did find myself frustrated that Dakota was even considering the idea of getting back with him but it did add something extra to the storyline. This is the first book I've read by Madsen, but it definitely won't be the last!!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Their wishes were simple and modest. Fate had other things in store though, and she can be a real bitch sometimes.

-
All he wanted was to get the job done and somehow to endure those long
months playing nanny to a spoiled little rich girl. Without strangling
her with his bare hands in the process. Well, it is going to be much
easier said than done.

- All she wanted was to escape the past
and live like any other nineteen-year-old girl. Her plan definitely
didn’t include the arrogant, tattooed savage, with his awful mohawk hair
and lack of social graces, whose only mission was to stick real close
and mess up her life.

But, people aren't always what they seem to be, are they?

There are so many things I loved about this book & only a few aspects that I wasn't a huge fan of. Since my dislikes were so few I will start with those!Sasha, the main female character,is spoiled & a total brat for a good portion of the beginning of the book. She cut ties with her father, whose shady business dealings led to the death of her mother, yet she still financially depends on him to support her while she is in college. No one in her life knows anything about him so when a business relationship turns sour she is forced to make up a story about the bodyguard she is now forced to live with. I hated how she acted like an immature, ungrateful brat for a good portion of the book. However, despite her annoying (at times) behavior, I couldn't help but like her and want her and Alex to end up together. Another thing that I wasn't crazy about was how there were some holes in some parts of the story & things that happened that just didn't seem to make sense

Besides those few issues there were a million things I loved! I loved Alex & I really wanted him to end up with Sasha. I loved the excitement of everything going on-it always held my interest. I also thought that there were so many good twists in the book that it is impossible not to be completed hooked in & to not be surprised by at least one twist!

I would DEFINITELY recommend purchasing this book! Its a great story with a perfect ending & some surprises along the way!

Once upon a time there lived a vampire with wings and the genie who loved her…

Born
of the seven magics, Jasmine is different in every way, including the
obnoxious wings on her back courtesy of the original Vampires. She
wants to be normal, to be a regular teenaged girl.

When a
gorgeous dark-haired boy named Laeddin shows up and promises to sneak
her away from all her problems and hide her in the human world, she
agrees.

But an evil lurks in her nightmares, a man with red eyes.
It doesn’t take long for Jasmine to realize that no matter how far she
tries to run from who she is, he’s only a dream away. He wants her. He
needs her. He acts as though he loves her.

It’s becoming harder
and harder to tell the difference between the path that’ll lead to her
happily ever after, and the path that’ll lead to her destruction as well
as all magic.

This book was definitely not what I was expecting, although I'm not sure what I was expecting. The book will keep you hooked and keep you guessing, it is like a rollercoaster! The plot was interesting & by the end I found myself wanting more. I'm definitely looking forward to what is coming up next!

When
accountant Olivia Prentiss joins Tucker Engle's company, she's
unceremoniously demoted—to stand in as his PA! However, Tucker's not in
for an easy ride. Olivia's worked hard to get where she is now, and
refuses to bow to her gorgeous boss's commands—however fearsome his
reputation.

But soon Olivia begins to see there is far more to
her boss than meets the eye. And on a business trip to Italy, she sees
straight through Tucker's hard and proud exterior to a man with a far
more vulnerable edge…

A cute romance with an almost perfect combination of fun & flirty. I was hoping for a different result after the Italian business trip but overall the ending of the book was good, as was the entire book. I liked that there really wasn't much drama in the book, it was just a nice, easy read! I liked Olivia a lot, although I thought her mom was kind of judgmental & contributed to the little bit of drama that was in the book. I liked Tucker a lot, probably more than I liked anyone else in the book. I definitely thought that he & Olivia were perfect together. *By the Book Reviews received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. We were in no way compensated for featuring it.

Friday, July 11, 2014

We are so excited to be participating in the Marry Me For Money Blog Tour, set up by Xpresso Book Tours! Don't miss any of the tour stops, you can find the schedule here! Make sure to enter the giveaway below, read our interview with author Mia Kayla, & check out our review!

Leaving her small town
behind, Bethany Casse moves to Chicago in search of a new life. Working
at a top financial bank brings her into contact with two men who are as
different as night and day.

Kent Plack, heir to Plack
Industries, has no interest in being with a woman for longer than one
night. A spoiled and lazy man-whore, he is completely content with his
playboy lifestyle, and Beth is surprised when they form an unlikely
friendship.

Brian Burcham, a finance banker, is gorgeous and
respectful. A man plucked from Beth’s dreams, he is definite husband
material. Unfortunately, Beth has a hard rule against dating coworkers,
but Brian is determined to change her mind.

When a deadbeat
mother and money problems follow her to Chicago, Beth is offered a
solution that could fix everything. Marrying for money seems simple
enough, but when lines become blurred, Beth faces difficult choices,
making her realize that the easy way out just made her life even harder
than before.

Let me start by saying that this is my favorite blog tour I have participated in so far! I absolutely loved this book, so much that I could read it again right now! I loved that it was set in Chicago (I live in Northwest Indiana)! I fell in love with Kent so fast but I was not a huge fan of Brian. He just seemed too perfect. I loved Beth & her easy friendship with Kent. I thought the mom & money drama was an interesting factor, I like how it didn't take over the whole book but when it was mentioned it fit in well with the rest of the story. I don't want to give too much away, but I LOVED the ending! I definitely recommend that anyone who loves a good romance reads this book!Interview with Mia Kayla

When did you first
know you wanted to be a writer?

I always had
journals when I was younger but MARRY ME FOR MONEY was the first book
that I'd ever written. When I started writing Beth's story, I didn't
know where it was going to end up. All I knew was I wrote a story
that I loved and I wanted to share it with a wider audience.

What inspired you
to write Marry Me for Money?

Ultimately I
wrote a book I'd like to read. I incorporated all the qualities I
loved in other books in Marry Me for Money. I wrote a friend's to
lover's trope, which is my ultimate favorite to read. I developed
Beth into a heroine that every young woman could relate to. Because I
like my alpha male heroes, I included two hot men in Marry Me for
Money.

Were there
specific songs or a playlist you listened to when writing Marry Me
for Money?

I don't have specific play lists with my book but one song
did play in my head as I wrote this. That song was Lucky by Jason
Mraz & Colbie Caillat.

What book (or
books) can you read over and over again?

The Twilight
Series and Beautiful Disaster.

If you could
become a character in any book, who would it be and why?

I'd be Abby from
Beautiful Disaster because she's real. She's not your typical
virginal clueless heroine. She's still a good girl that loves to have
fun. Plus, she gets to marry Travis Maddox.

What are you
currently working on?

I'm currently
editing my next novel which is called “Everything has Changed.”
I'm anticipating a release date of Fall 2014. It's
a stand alone novel about childhood friends, their struggles and
their life into adulthood. You can read the back cover blurb here. Be
sure to add it to your TBR:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22559484-everything-has-changed

Last but
definitely not least, if you had to pick one boy band (and only one!)
which would you pick?

Oh no! No you just
didn't. This is hard but if I had to pick one it would be New Kids on
the Block. I'm a crazy fan girl over Jordan Knight and am going to
see him in Nick and Knight at House of Blues this September.

I grew up
listening to their jams and had every T-shirt, pin and jacket. I went
to the NKOTB concert when I was in 8th
grade and even on my 30th
birthday. So yeah, NKOTB is my top pick.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

When Isabel Baker
agreed to moonlight as a bartender at a private party, she never
imagined she'd get anything more than tips. However, on this resort
island, nothing was ever that simple.

After tending bar with the
deliciously handsome Noah who was flown in for the party, Izzy realized
that she was about to break her number one rule: never fall for a
tourist. But with his quick wit, charming smile and passion for marine
life, Noah was the kind of guy that she couldn’t resist. At the end of
the night, she barely managed to turn him away from coming home with
her.

Noah had only come to the island for one of Jack Saunders'
famous parties. Yet once he met Izzy, he couldn’t bring himself to
leave. After one steamy night together, he knew that he would do almost
anything to keep her.

Theirs should have been an easy love
story, complete with a happily ever after. Except Noah was also
moonlighting as a bartender that night and his true identity threatened
Izzy’s research. When his billion-dollar company and her marine research
project collide, their entire relationship crumbles into the sand. Will
they be able to rebuild their beautiful sandcastle together, or will it
be washed away by the rising tide, forever just a memory?

I feel like this book had a lot of good things going for it. I great setting, good storyline, & sexy leading man. From the way the book started I definitely was thinking it was going to be different than it was but I like how it turned out. Some of it was pretty predictable but the story was told in a way that made it impossible not to maintain your interest. It was the perfect steamy read for a hot summer day! I definitely can't wait to read more from this author!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Him…I need time. Time to heal those wings and learn to use them…Was
part of the letter Rebecca Trent, Daniel Brightmore’s fiancée and best
friend left when she ran away. The person he trusted the most for the
past decade disappeared without giving him a second glance. She taught
him how to love, believe in family and that everyone deserves a happily
ever after. Now he’s struggling between wiping any traces of her from
his life and drowning his sorrows away with the help of his new best
friends—Don Julio and Jack Daniels.

HerRebecca’s
past suffocated her to the point of not wanting to continue, her
lifeline and the only reason to live began to withdraw from her. She
wished it had been her imagination, but heard it loud and clear: “If
not, there’s always a divorce, nothing is forever.” This time it became a
leave or die situation. Something has got to change—she had to change.
Packing light and leaving a letter behind, she takes a journey that can
help her find herself through the shards of her painful childhood.As
letters, memories and stories are exchanged, two once inseparable
people reconcile what’s left of their relationship. Beyond the confines
of everything they built together, they’re left with two lonely people
searching for what it means to be whole. Will they find meaning under
their bruised psyches or will their pasts get the better of them?

Excerpt

From Becca’s list, I have accomplished two things: I didn’t look for her and I

haven’t dated Trish. At the moment I’m at Sotano—Buddy’s night club—with a blond draped on

my left, a brunette on my right and another blond next to her. One is slim, one curvy in the right

places and the other in-between. All types, so no one gives me some shit that I have

preferences or a type, because I don’t. Before we began this encounter, I asked them if they

were sluts—Becca was very specific that I shouldn’t date that type. Of course, while we made

the introductions, I omitted the part where my ex asked me not to date skanks—or easy

women—I’m not an idiot. With a giggle the three of them shook their heads about the slutty part.

Though the barely there material covering their bodies made me wonder if they were being

honest. Of course, as a gentleman, I didn’t question them any further. Three at the same time

should shorten the amount of women I should date. Though Becca didn’t give me a specific

number of females I should go out with. As of right now, she hasn’t answered any of my fucking

emails. There are several unanswered questions. Like duration of the dates? Can I fuck them? I

don’t know, because Rebecca refuses to give me any further instructions. Perhaps, next time I’ll

send her a letter to that address she gave me in her six page correspondence—front and back.

Geneva, quite a trip and whoever helped her will pay. I just need a moment to regroup and plan

my vengeance.

“Ladies, if you excuse me.” I run both hands through my hair when I hear that. Buddy is

interrupting one of the girls, she was telling me something about her career in communications.

That is rude. He should be thankful that I’m not at my best. If not I would beat the hell out of

him for sticking his nose where nobody wants him. My fucking friends, brothers and security

P.I.
Frances Jefferies is the perfect person to slip into Las Vegas's
underworld to recover a priceless necklace. With her elite investigative
skills, not to mention her jewel-thief past, she knows she can get the
job done. That is, until a sexy stranger gets in her way.

Braxton
Morgan's past is as secretive as her own. There's so much about this
man she wants to discover—but not at the cost of her case. For that, she
must stay focused. Then Braxton suggests adding his security expertise
to catch the criminal. And suddenly they're mixing smarts with danger
and a whole lot of passion!

I fell in love with the P.I. world in The Next Right Thing & Sleepless in Las Vegas and Hearts in Vegas is the perfect book to end my current obsession! I honestly wasn't sure how Collins could do better than Sleepless in Las Vegas, but she did it! Braxton, the twin brother of Drake (featured in Sleepless) was just as devastatingly sexy as his brother!I loved everything about this story & I didn't want it to end!

Giveaway is open to US Only | Must be 13+ to Enter

1 Winner will get a $40 Amazon Gift Card + all 3 books in this series from Colleen Collins.

P.I.-in-training
Valerie LeRoy is dying to get into the field. So when a client asks her
to spy on someone, the thrill of her own case is too tempting to
refuse. Instead of a cheating fiance, however, Val's actually checking
out P.I. Drake Morgan! Worse, she ends up working with the guy!

Their
differing opinions on techniques, and the instant attraction, make the
sparks fly. It's almost impossible to focus on their arson
investigation. As the hunt for the truth intensifies and their passion
rivals the triple-digit temperature, she and Drake learn why Las Vegas
is the city that never sleeps..This is the second book in a series that I am reading as part of the Hearts in Vegas (book #3) blog tour. As much as I loved the first book I was really nervous that this one wouldn't be as good. It took me a little bit to really get hooked, but once I did I LOVED it even more than book #1! Val was funny, smart, & adventurous..it was impossible not to love her. She is someone you'd want to have as your friend! Drake was intense and I loved how much he seemed to really care about his family.

The two of them together were perfect! I love how Val always spoke her mind, even if it didn't always come out like she wanted it to. I was so happy with how this book ended! Honestly, I love books that have an Epilogue, even if it is short, because I feel like it gives a conclusion to the story. You spend a few hundred pages falling in love with characters, it is nice to feel like you are getting a good ending! I can't wait to start Hearts in Vegas! Look for my review & feature tomorrow!